1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bait tanks used to maintain live bait for fishing. More particularly it relates to a bait tank that is collapsible and insertable through apertures in a boat or kayak surface that can be smaller than the expanded bait tank once installed. Once so inserted through such an aperture, the bait tank may be expanded to an installed size larger than the aperture, and attached to the underside of a wall of the boat or kayak about that aperture, in a sealed relationship, thereby maintaining the watertight integrity of the vessel.
2. Prior Art
Modern boats for individual recreational use have evolved to include numerous designs for craft that can be used for exercise, exploration, and sport. Kayaks being a member of this class of water craft have developed a number of classes of craft including those of wooden, resin, fiberglass and polyethylene or a similar polymer walled construction. One overriding factor in such small water craft, as well as in larger pleasure craft, is the requirement to keep the craft water tight. This is especially true of kayaks used in ocean coastal waters as well as those that run rapids or just cruise river ways or inland lakes. Waves and water disturbances encountered by users of kayaks and other water craft can quickly swamp the craft and endanger the rider. Even if the craft is designed to be unsinkable through the inclusion of buoyant materials in the construction of the craft, if allowed to take on water during use, the craft becomes slow and unwieldy.
As use of kayak style water craft has become more prevalent in recent years, so too has the desire to vary that use. Kayak users are well known for cruising waterways, running rapids in fresh water, kayak surfing, or cruising costal waters. Because of their ability to glide to places where aquatic wildlife abounds, there is an ever more widening use of such craft for fishing the coastal waters and inland lakes and streams.
Of course fishing from these small craft creates a problem in itself in that to fish the occupant must have the appropriate gear and of course bait for attachment to that gear to attract the fish sought. Poles, nets, and gear may be lashed to the top of the craft or be of such a nature as to be small enough to place on the rider""s person. However if the water craft occupant wishes to use live bait such as sardines, anchovies, mackerel, minnows, or other small fish, that of course attract bigger fish, it poses the dilemma on how to allow for living space for aquatic creatures on a small craft that is supposed to be water tight.
Kayaks being hydrodynamic for streamline running in the water, are by nature small and conventionally sealed on their top and bottom surfaces to avoid the intrusion of water into the interior cavities. This serves to keep the craft buoyant even in the roughest waters since water is kept out of the craft. In order to maintain a streamlined flow through the water, the paddler of a kayak or similar small craft is essentially precluded from hanging devices over the side of the craft into the water. Doing so will severely hamper the craft""s ability to easily navigate through the water and cause extreme fatigue of the paddler in a short period of time due to the loss of hydrodynamic properties caused by drag. An alternative currently practiced by kayak users is to place a bait bucket on the deck of the craft. The paddler however must frequently stop the craft. and dip the bucket to obtain fresh, oxygenated water for the occupants of the bait bucket to keep them alive. Additionally, placing a bait tank, and filling it with water, on the deck of a kayak or other small craft, causes a significant rise in the center of gravity of the kayak. Such a rise in the center of gravity yields an unstable craft prone to a roll-over.
As such, to use live bait on a kayak, the bait tank would best be kept inside the watertight environment of the interior cavities of the craft, yet still seal away exterior water from the remaining interior cavities of the craft without swamping the craft. Consequently there is a need for an easily installed bait tank device that would provide the proper oxygenated aquatic environment for live bait and can be maintained on an interior cavity of a kayak or other water craft. Such a device should also maintain the integrity of the seal the craft enjoys from the water through which the craft operates. Additionally, such a device should provide a mechanism to circulate or change the water inside the tank on a regular basis to maintain the occupants of the tank in a healthy state.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,220 (Vento) addresses the need for a portable bait tank with a supply of fresh water, however Vento requires a permanent installation and is not collapsible to allow mounting in the interior of the craft through a small hole.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,672 (Raia) teaches an auxiliary bait tank having circulating water aerating the device however Raia is solid in construction and designed for above deck mounting or installation in existing bait containers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,033,280 (Wood) teaches a boat mountable bait tank with circulating water to keep the bait alive. Wood is designed however for above deck mounting or mounting in bait tank containers already on the vessel and does not allow for transportability nor it is collapsible to fit through small apertures into the wall of the vessel.
As such, there exists a need for an easily and inexpensively manufactured bait tank apparatus, which can be readily attached to an interior cavity of most conventional wood, fiberglass- resin and polyethylene and similar polymer-walled, water craft, and especially kayaks. Such a device should also provide for a water tight seal against swamping or flooding the interior of the craft, from water exterior to the craft. The device should additionally be collapsible to allow for easy mounting in various differing types of water tight cavities that exist in most modem water craft and thus keep deck space of the craft useable while concurrently either lowering or maintaining the center of gravity of the craft.
Applicants"" device is an easily manufactured and installed collapsible bait tank apparatus for transport of live bait and maintaining such live bait in a healthy state in an oxygenated aquatic environment. The device features a collapsible container to hold water to maintain live bait in an aquatic environment. A bulkhead sealing apparatus provides both a mount, and a seal against flooding of the interior of the craft from splashes or swamping, thereby maintaining the water tight integrity of the craft on which it is mounted. The bulkhead sealing apparatus is also hinged or of flexible elastic construction to allow it to compress and fit through small apertures in the water craft.
The collapsible tank is constructed of water tight material such as vinyl coated nylon or polyester fabric. The collapsible bait tank has an access aperture which attaches to, and is accessible through, the bulkhead sealing apparatus, thereby providing the user to access the bait contained therein. The bulkhead sealing apparatus is attachable to the wall of the water craft such as a kayak and thereby provides a mount for the attached bait tank as well as maintaining the craft""s water tight ability.
By providing a device which is collapsible, great utility is provided in that the user can collapse the device and insert it through a small aperture or other opening which communicates through the deck or other sidewall of the craft. This opening may already exist and be sealable in the conventional fashion with a water tight door or plug. Or, the opening may be cut into the craft to allow for a mount of the collapsible bait tank using the provided bulkhead sealing apparatus for the mount and to provided access to the collapsible bait tank so positioned in the craft.
The bulkhead sealing apparatus consists of an inner sealing ring that is hinged in the current best mode, or elastic in nature, or otherwise collapsible and returnable to a predetermined size. The inner sealing ring is dimensioned to mate with a cooperatively dimensioned exterior sealing ring. Both sealing rings would be dimensioned for cooperative engagement with the aperture formed through the wall or deck of the water craft when in the final mounting position. To mount the bait tank device in a compartment of the water craft, the hinged or flexible interior sealing ring is compressed to a size slightly smaller than the aperture and inserted therethrough. The interior sealing ring may be attached to the bait tank in a sealed relationship around the access aperture of the bait tank, or it may be a separate piece, depending on the water craft and mounting position on that water craft.
Once inserted through the aperture in the water craft, if the interior sealing ring is attached to the bait tank, it is then returned to its intended mounting size and aligned with the cooperating exterior sealing ring dimensioned to encircle the perimeter of the wall aperture. If it is to be removably attached to the interior of the bait tank, the interior sealing ring would be inserted through the access aperture of the bait tank to the bait tank interior and then aligned with the exterior sealing ring about the wall aperture of the craft. Once so aligned the exterior sealing ring and the interior sealing ring are engaged using conventional fasteners therethrough thereby compressing the perimeter of the tank access aperture between the inner surface of the wall of the craft and the interior sealing ring. The seal achieved between the interior sealing ring and the exterior sealing ring and the interior wall and exterior wall of the craft, can be enhanced using optional O-rings, silicone or other sealants, or other conventional sealant materials.
Through the engagement of the bait tank aperture between the interior sealing ring and the interior wall surface of the craft, a watertight seal is achieved which will only allow water into an interior cavity of the collapsible bait tank while concurrently maintaining the water tight seal with the rest of the craft""s interior. While the craft is being navigated to and from destinations, the orifice inside the exterior sealing ring may be sealed using a cooperatively dimensioned cap with xe2x80x9cOxe2x80x9d ring that may be removably threaded or otherwise conventionally placed into position to block access to the interior cavity of the bait tank.
By the provision of collapsibility of both the tank and interior sealing ring, a large bait tank may thereby be inserted into the hollow areas of a boat or kayak through a hole smaller than the eventually enlarged tank. Further, by adding water flow from the lake or ocean which is being navigated, using a communicating battery powered pump, additional utility is provided in the form of a constant rejuvenating of the water supply to sustain the bait fish in the mounted tank. Additionally, in an emergency the pump may be utilized as a sump pump to help drain water from the inner compartments of the craft should it become flooded by a puncture in the wall surface of the craft.
An object of this invention is to provide for a bait tank for water craft such as a kayak that will hold and maintain live bait therein for transport to a fishing site.
Another object of this invention is to provide such a bait tank, and concurrently maintain the seal of the craft from flooding from the exterior of the craft.
A further object of this invention is the provision of a collapsible bait tank that is water tight and will allow for expansion and holding of more bait therein in a healthier environment once inserted through a smaller aperture in the vessel wall.
A further object of this invention is the provision of a collapsible bait tank that is easily transported once drained thereby allowing for portable use of the collapsible bait tank on different vessels by mounting it in a collapsible frame.
Another object of this invention is the provision of a bait tank for small craft that can be accommodated by heretofore unusable space of the interior of the water craft while concurrently maintaining or lowering the center of gravity of the water craft.
Further objects of the invention will be brought out in the following part of the specification, wherein detailed description is for the purpose of fully disclosing the invention without placing limitations thereon.